Improve Profits in 7 Steps

To keep your cost of inventory at a minimum, it is critically important to satisfy your generic compliance ratio (GCR) set forth in your primary wholesaler agreement. The rebates you earn by hitting your target GCR every month can be game-changing, putting crucial cash flow back in your pharmacy.

To achieve this goal, and to maximize every dollar spent, it’s crucial to purchase some of your Generic and Brand items from a secondary wholesaler. IPC serves over 7,000 independent pharmacies as a secondary wholesaler and we’re here to help you optimize your purchasing and maximize your rebates.

1. If you don’t already know your GCR, look it up.
2. Look at what you’ve spent this month on Generic and Brand.
3. Do your calculation and compare it to your GCR.
   • Generic Purchases from your wholesaler (ex. McKesson) divided by Total Rx Purchases from your wholesaler.
4. Decide where you’ll buy from to maximize your rebates.

Our warehouse dashboard lets you easily review financial reports, track purchases, maximize rebates, and take control of your bottom line.

Underwater reimbursements are an unavoidable reality for pharmacies, but they don’t have to drain your profitability. While we can’t eliminate them, you can take decisive action to mitigate their impact. Adding OTC hearing aids to your offerings is a practical way to boost cash flow and reduce financial strain.

Key Statistics:

• 1 out of 5 people in the U.S. suffer from hearing loss
• 80% of hearing loss cases can be treated with OTC hearing aids

The demand is high for OTC hearing aids, and you can satisfy that demand while adding more cash flow to your independent pharmacy. On average, stores offering hearing aids from RxHearing are selling about two per week.

Now, let’s talk dollars.

• Average Revenue Per Month – $5,500
• Top Performing Store Revenue Per Month – $15,500
• Average Profit Per Month – $1,800
• Top Performing Store Profit Per Month – $4,400

Take 15 minutes to schedule a consultation with RxHearing by calling 1-888-818-1388 or register here.

Pharmacy has not been immune to the labor shortages that have plagued the U.S. since the Covid-19 pandemic took hold in 2020. As staffs have dwindled, many pharmacists have had to fill the labor gap by spending more hours filling Rx scripts, time that could have been otherwise spent adding or expanding clinical services.

Two options come up. One is to invest in automation. If you are currently weighing the option of adding more staff, now may be the time to look at automation as a way of creating capacity within your team, rather than adding to your team, with the added benefit of improving patient adherence that many automation companies provide.

Another is Central Fill as a Service (CFaaS) from CoverMyMeds which allows you to spend more time growing your business rather than being stuck on the bench. CFaaS is a centralized solution that allows retail pharmacies to use central fill without the investment in equipment, inventory, or staffing (other than a pharmacist).

CFaaS is available to customers through a per-prescription fee that can dramatically reduce the pharmacy’s per-prescription cost to dispense.

Take 15 minutes to see if CFaaS from CoverMyMeds is a good fit for your independent pharmacy. You can either email CoverMyMeds or reach out to your IPC representative.

Once you have more time carved out, reach out to IPC’s Pharmacy Services team to help you grow your business and put more cash in your coffers.

Out-of-stock and short fills are necessary evils. Ideally, you want these to equal less than 2 percent of your script volume. If it’s higher than 2 percent, you have some work to do.

It’s a simple equation, really. Inventory Management = Cash Flow Management.

The correct amount of inventory you should carry can be measured by 16 inventory turns a year. If your turns are less than 12, you’re carrying too much inventory. It’s hard to pay your wholesaler bill when your cash is tied up on your shelf. This decreases your cash flow which prevents you from buying the products you need, resulting in a higher out-of-stock script volume.

It’s a delicate balance. The key is to find that ‘sweet spot’ where you don’t carry more inventory than is necessary. Less inventory equals cash in the bank. Take 15 minutes to determine your current out-of-stock and short-fill percentage.

When you partner with IPC as your secondary wholesaler you can rely on next-day delivery and a user-friendly dashboard to streamline your ordering and avoid carrying excess inventory.

We know how busy you are. Chances are it feels like you’re being pulled in a thousand different directions every day. It’s human nature to then scramble to solve problems without a grounded plan or approach. We hear about this frustration a lot when it comes to purchasing – bouncing from website to website to find the very best deal.

You might find a short-term deal at the expense of losing thousands of dollars in rebates long-term by not staying compliant with your primary wholesaler. Here too, you don’t have time to learn the nuances of your primary wholesaler contract to fully maximize it.

You can’t do it alone. You need help.

Take 15 minutes today to schedule a meeting with someone who can help you understand your primary wholesaler contract and develop a purchasing strategy. You could reach out to:

• Your primary wholesaler representative
• Your PSAO
• A trusted colleague
• Download our Purchasing Strategy e-Book

You can also talk to us. A staff member of our GPO or Pharmacy Services team can sit down with you and go over your contract.

What sets IPC apart as a GPO is the Warehouse Edge program—a strategic purchasing tool that helps you reduce costs while staying compliant with your primary wholesaler.

This is the ONE step in this seven-step blog that requires a long-term solution.

You may have heard that between 2010 and 2020, DIR fees charged by PBMs increased by a ridiculous 107,400 percent. And while Medicare Part D DIR fees are no longer retroactive, there is still work to be done. This runaway train needs to be stopped but we can’t do it alone. This initiative requires strength in numbers. Here’s how you can take action today:

• Join groups like NCPA or your state pharmacy association to fight the good fight.
• Participate in Voter Voice campaigns to contact your legislators directly. Act quickly to ensure they understand how these decisions impact independent pharmacies.
• Take 15 minutes to connect with our team here and visit the IPC Legislative Action Center to contact your legislator directly.

IPC is committed to driving critical legislative reforms on your behalf, focusing on top issues like 340B Reform, Federal Part D PBM Reform, Medicaid Managed Care Reform and Medicare Pharmacy Provider Status.

Our Government Relations team has been fighting for independent pharmacy for decades. Over the past three years, we’ve supported PBM/DIR legislation in Montana, New York, Ohio, North Dakota, Florida, Texas, and Wisconsin.

These wins are significant, but the fight is far from over.

As emphasized in Step #1, hitting and maintaining your GCR each month is essential for your bottom line—potentially saving you thousands of dollars. IPC partners with trusted vendors who can automate and simplify GCR management, ensuring you maximize earnings. Here’s how: